ISLAMABAD, April 25: The Senate on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the publication of blasphemous cartoons in some European countries and the release of an anti-Islam documentary by a Dutch parliamentarian. It urged the United Nations to put an end to activities against Islam and ensure respect for all religions.
The resolution said that the sacrilegious acts had hurt the sentiments of Muslims and violated international laws, including the UN Charter, and also laws of the countries where the sacrilege had been committed.
The resolution said such sacrilegious acts had harmed the efforts of the Dutch and Danish governments to build bridges between religions and civilisations.
The resolution urged the UN to take “all necessary legal, political and administrative steps to curb this trend”.
The house took notice of a recent resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on freedom expression and hoped that the UN would take action to fill the gap in the existing legal regimes in relation to defamation of religions and incitement of hatred.
A row erupted in the house when the chairman Senate refused to allow Babar Awan of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to raise a point of order.
Mr Awan insisted that he should be allowed to raise ‘an important issue like Babar Ghauri of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement who had sought information about the kidnapped ambassador to Afghanistan.
The chairman Senate said an understanding had been reached to defer the question hour and points of order till the end of the session. The new Leader of the House, Mian Raza Rabbani, endorsed the chairman’s statement but it did not calm Mr Awan. He was finally persuaded by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik and others not to pursue the matter.
In response to Mr Ghauri’s point of order, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government was trying to secure the release of Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin.
On a call-attention notice Prof Khurshid Ahmed said a new surcharge on power consumers for generating funds for construction of the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project was unconstitutional since no autonomous body could impose such a tax without the approval of parliament. Terming the tax unfair, he said it would net Rs42 billion in seven years.
Raja Pervez Ashraf, minister for water and power, defended the caretaker government’s action and said since donor agencies were not ready to provide funds for the project, it had been decided to generate 50 per cent of the amount needed by raising the tariff by 10 paisa per units for those consuming more than 50 units per month. The rest of the amount would be provided from the development budget, he said.
Mr Rehman Malik said that the house could expect ‘good news’ about missing persons in two or three weeks.
